Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-03-02
A JUST PROTEST.

A JUST PROTEST.
When former Postmaster-G General
placed papers advertising lotteries on the
black list, and pronounced them unworthy
the privilege of United States mail carri-
age, he decided rightly and acted courage
ously He was the object of much assault
for his firmness, and appeals were had to
the Courts to defeat him. The Senate of
the United States has just done justice to
his judgment, and conserved the public
veal by passing an Act prohibiting the
use of the mails to newspapers advertising
lotteries. This is something in the nature
of rebuke to the Legislature of Califor
MIA, which has remained dumb in the face
of the most fragrant and defiant violation
of the laws of the State prohibiting lot
terry advertisements and lottery-ticket sell
ing. 1t might very easily have passed the
Act defining such advertisements. 1t could
have done so with not TO exceed fifteen
minutes of time devoted to it. Its failure
to do so justifies the suspicion that potent
forces operated to preserve it quiescent.
They may have included the fear of the
newspapers that fatten upon the vice, for
the terrorism of the press is neither to be
denied nor lightly treated. They may
have embraced the activity of lottery
agents, or the specious plea that present
laws are sufficient, or the less defensible
excuse that the bill came too late, not
wthstanding the fact that it was reported
favorably weeks ago. The heavy percent
ages of the ticket-vendors may have moved
them, in protection to self, to activity, to
prevent legislative action upon Mr. Cars |
bill, and promote that silly doctrine that
as the people will gamble, it is as well to
permit them to pour their coin into the |
pockets of foreign policy-shop proprietors,
no matter how large the drain upon the
material production of the State.
1t is some consolation to find Congress
moving in the matter, and the passage of
the Senate bill, though close upon the end |
of the session, may result in law being |
eventually placed upon the Federal statute
books that will deprive many of our es-
teemed contemporaries of some very fat |
perquisites. They will be called upon, we
think, before long to sacrifice Mr. Dauph-
ms advertisements or their mail-lists, and |
when it comes to that the newspaper man
ager will scarcely hesitate
The merchants of San Francisco have |
risen up and protested against the Cohen |
bill now in the hands of Gov
ernor Bartlett They have resolved that
it is really an Act to crush manufacturing
industries in California, reaching even to
every mechanic and every sewing woman's
industry. All the points heretofore made |
against the bill by the REcoRD-UNIoN |
were gone over by the assemblage and |
given concurrence. The bill should not |
receive the approval of the Governor, nor |
do we believe it viii. 1t is so sweeping |
and unreasonable, and attaches for its VIC
lation such severe penalties that, as one
speaker before the Board of Trade re-
marked, there are not .jails enough in the |
hold the prisoners that could be snatched
up under this silly measure The truth is
the Legislature has thrown the bill as
sop to the radical boycotting and generally
ultra anti-Chinese element and does not
wish or expect its approval. Without be
ing egotistical, we venture TO say no jour
nal has stood out more firmly for Chinese
labor exclusion than the REcoRD-U UNION.
and none have battled more persistently
for removing American labor from compe-
tition with Chinese because of the unnat-
uralness of the relation, the non -assimilat-
i've character of the Chinese and the abso
lutte necessity forced upon the white la
borer to descend to the level of the man
ner of living usual among Chinese labor
ers, in order to successfully compete with
them. Out of a citizenship so degraded
can come no good possibly. But, though
the friend of the exclusion policy, we CON
slider the Cohen bill to be ill-advised, men
acing to manufacturing, dangerous to
small fruit-growing, prohibitive of small
manufacturing, and as unjust odious and
altogether worthy of the anathema we
trust the Executive will pronounce upon
it. Out of Stamp Act arose the Ameri-
can keyolution-that Act was scarce more
ubiquitous than the one now under consid-
Grafton and is as deserving of condemna-
ton.